If you are free, why can't you travel to Cuba?

by sammielee24 20 Replies latest jw friends

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  sammielee24
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  nvrgnbk

  Excellent question!

  Published on Saturday, September 1, 2001 Shaking Down American Travelers by Tom Crumpacker A couple of years ago Los Angeles guitarist Ry Cooder made a documentary film in Havana called "The Buena Vista Social Club." It was nominated for an Academy Award and was seen by millions of Americans. Some have said it has done more to improve relations between US and Cuba than 42 years of rhetoric by the politicians on both sides of the Florida Straits. An August 18 report in the Santa Monica Daily Breeze indicates that Cooder has now been fined $25,000 by the US Treasury Department for spending money in Cuba without its permission. I say fight it, Ry. Although our Federal courts have not yet declared it, the 1981 Reagan Cuba travel restrictions became unconstitutional about 11 years ago when the Cold War ended. They have remained on the books because Presidents Bush I, Clinton and Bush II lacked the political will to terminate them and our State Department has been using them to try to frighten Americans out of going to Cuba. In order for a court to declare them unconstitutional, our Justice Department would have to take someone to court to enforce them, which it has not done because its lawyers know it is very unlikely any judge would uphold them. According to an August 5 New York Times article by Frank Bruni, for the few Cuba travelers who receive enforcement letters (about .1% of the total), the theoretical fine for unlicensed spending is $250,000, the fine on paper but not practice is $55,000, the typical fine is $7,500, however Treasury accepts down to $700 in "voluntary settlement." Those who contest fines are entitled to an in-house hearing before a Treasury administrative judge, whose ruling would then be subject to a due process review in Federal Court where the constitutional issue could be raised. However, Treasury apparently has no such administrative judges. According to an August 18 NY Transfer article by John Hillson, while Treasury has taken in almost $2,000,000 in settlements from the 379 Cuba travelers who were stupid or frightened enough to pay voluntarily, it has never conducted an in-house administrative hearing, much less taken someone to court. In July the House voted 240-186 to stop funding enforcement, and the Senate will probably do likewise in September. Despite this, supposedly on Bush's orders Treasury this summer has been stepping up enforcement by sending agents to airports in Toronto, Nassau and Cancun to try to spot Americans getting off flights from Cuba, where they are harassed, frightened and subsequently sent letters threatening large fines. Some reporters have speculated it's some kind of political payoff to the Cuban American National Foundation. In Ry Cooder's case, perhaps it's punishment for creating good will between Americans and Cubans. In any event, many fined Cuba travelers are beginning to contest, and a large backlog of cases has been building up. Treasury is now claiming it's going to try to use EPA judges to conduct the hearings. At an August 17 press conference, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), chairman of the subcommittee which funds Treasury, reprimanded it for its recent "heavy handed" and "unseemly crankup" of enforcement when Congress is about to repeal the "misguided Cuba travel prohibition". He also stated he was going to try to prohibit Treasury from using environmental judges to hear Cuba travel violations and concluded: "The law preventing US citizens from traveling to Cuba has not been aggressively enforced and is, on its face, an unjustifiable restraint on the freedom of travel..." The restrictions have often been used by customs officials to harass (but not prosecute) people our government considers politically incorrect, such as students and union representatives attending conferences in Cuba. Unconstitutional regulations and laws are illegal and void and should immediately be terminated or repealed. If questionably constitutional, they should be taken to court for determination as soon as possible. They should not be kept on the books for years in order to harass selectively, or to frighten and bilk the unwary when our government (but not the traveler) knows there will be no prosecution. Last January our President took an oath to uphold our Constitution. He has plenty of good legal advice. If he truly represents us, Cuba travelers like Ry Cooder should be able to rely on his good faith in this respect. Tom Crumpacker is a retired lawyer living in Miami Beach. E-mail: [email protected]
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  sammielee24

  oops...didn't work....

  If you are free why can't you travel to Cuba?

  As a Canadian, I always wondered why Americans are not allowed to visit Cuba? It never made sense to me to say that there is great freedom yet unrestricted travel is not one of them - how many people in their 20's and 30's born in the USA know why they can't go there? After all this time do you think the rules should be relaxed for the American people?

  sammieswife.
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  SirNose586

  Who said Americans were free?
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  ColdRedRain

  It's called a national embargo. We're trying to economically starve Cuba to the point of where Castro goes bankrupt. Good idea in theory, bad idea in practice. He's still rich.
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  ColdRedRain

  Cuban Americans say that Americans are free.
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  Mum

  You can. You have to go to the Bahamas first, and book your travel to Cuba from there. (btw, I am not one who did this, and, of course, I am not advocating it). Sometimes you have to take the back door to freedom.

  Regards,

  SC
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  nvrgnbk

  I found this interesting:

  End the Embargo of Cuba

  You may have heard that the US has an embargo in place against Cuba. US companies may not trade with Cuba. US citizens are prohibited from travelling to Cuba (except under special circumstances). Congress has passed a bill that makes the embargo even stronger, and imposes sanctions against any country that trades with Cuba.

  A embargo is something that we normally do in times of war. Sometimes we use an embargo against a country whose misconduct has been condemned by the international community, but that is not the case with Cuba. Why are we at war with Cuba?

  We have taken the most drastic measures imaginable against a country that poses virtually no threat to us. We have invaded Cuba (more than once), we have tried to asassinate Fidel Castro (many times), we have a naval base at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba (how would you feel if Russia had a military base on the US mainland?). We are attempting to starve children and other civilians. Why?

  I am not a communist, and I am not defending Cuba or its political and economic systems. I just don't understand why we are at war with them. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get even a plausible answer to why we have an embargo against Cuba. Here are some of the (not so plasible) answers that I have come up with.

  Because they are communist.

  Well, China is communist and we trade with them (China even has most favored nation trading status, and until after Nixon went there we wouldn't even recognize them as the legitimate government). We trade with Vietnam and most other communist countries (what's left of 'em). We even traded with the Soviet Union back when they were our sworn enemy.

  Because they are close friends of the evil Soviet Empire, and are only 75 miles from our coastline.

  Someone forgot to tell the US State Department that there isn't an evil Soviet Empire anymore. We are even giving aid to Russia now. And the Soviet Union itself was closer to the US than Cuba is (honest! only a few miles from Alaska).

  Because they make really good cigars.

  Hey, this one is actually almost plausible. After all, a major sponsor of the bills to make the embargo stronger is Jesse Helms, the (wacko) senator from North Carolina (a state whose economy is dependent on tobacco). Go figure.

  We have hated them for so long, we have forgotten the reasons.

  If we suddenly changed our minds and started trading with Cuba, it would be embarassing to us. We might have had reasons to hate them in the past: The Soviet Union used to rub our face in Cuba; Fidel snubbed his nose at us, and got away with it. It seems like the only thing the US government can't forgive is being laughed at. We have forgiven Russia, China, and Vietnam, but we cannot forgive Cuba.

  Politics.

  To me, this is the most likely reason. In the US, small but fanatical groups can wield disproportionate polical power (this was built into the constitution on purpose, to protect the interests of minorities). There is a large Cuban-American population in Florida that absolutely hates Fidel Castro. Many of these people have reason to hate Castro -- they were rich landowners or businessmen who had their property seized during the Cuban revolution in the late 50's, and some have had family members imprisoned or tortured. These people will automatically vote against anyone who displays any sympathy with Cuba. I have heard that if this bloc had voted against Clinton in Clinton's first run for president, then he would have lost Florida. And if Clinton had lost the electoral votes of Florida, then he would have lost the election. Because most people in the US don't care about Cuba (or even know much about it), it is easier for the politicians to appease this bloc and avoid making them angry.

  The only way this stupidity can stop is if the rest of the country wakes up and starts asking why we are at war with Cuba. Here are some reasons we should end the embargo with Cuba.

  Because we look stupid.

  We are interfering with the affairs of a separate country. It doesn't matter if we don't like Castro -- it is not up to us to choose the leaders of other countries. There are countries with far worse leaders, and we don't have embargos against them. If Cuban-Americans really want democracy restored to Cuba, then the last thing they should want is the US deciding who can or cannot be in charge there.

  Because it is illegal.

  The United Nations has condemned the US embargo against Cuba. The vote was every-country-in-the-world versus 2 (the US and Israel, and Israel was probably pressured by us). The embargo makes us look like a meddling imperialist bully of the worst kind.

  Because it is wrong.

  If you have ever wondered about the reasons why some people in the world don't like us yankees, here is a pretty darn good example. We are supposed to be the good guys.

  Because it isn't working.

  The effect of the embargo has been to make the Cuban people hate our government, not their government. In fact, it is pretty obvious that Fidel would be much less popular if he didn't have the US to blame for his country's problems.

  Because we are missing a business opportunity.

  Cuba is a prime market for US trade. Because we are the only country that doesn't trade with Cuba, we are missing this opportunity. Instead, Japan, Canada, and Mexico are doing lively business down there.

  Why do I care?

  I'm not Cuban. I don't have any close friends who care about Cuba. I guess I want to live in a country that doesn't act like a childish bully. I am also personally offended that the US government says that its citizens cannot freely travel to Cuba. And what I saw in Cuba makes me believe that we are doing grevious harm to innocent people.

  What you can do.

  I guess the best thing to do is talk. If the majority of Americans tell them that they think the embargo is wrong, then the politicians will listen.

  For more information about Cuba, contact Global Exchange. They have a Cuba reader (compiled by Diana Downton) that contains reprints of articles about Cuba from well-known sources (for example, Time, Christian Science Monitor, The Nation, Business Week, Miami Herald, New York Times, Washington Post, and San Francisco Examiner). I have found Global Exchange's reporting on Cuba to be fair -- they include sources from both sides of the issues. Global Exchange also runs legal trips to Cuba. Contact them at Global Exchange, 2017 Mission Street #303, San Francisco, CA 94110, phone 415/255-7296, fax 415/255-7498, email [email protected].

  ---
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  ColdRedRain

  To me, this is the most likely reason. In the US, small but fanatical groups can wield disproportionate polical power (this was built into the constitution on purpose, to protect the interests of minorities). There is a large Cuban-American population in Florida that absolutely hates Fidel Castro. Many of these people have reason to hate Castro -- they were rich landowners or businessmen who had their property seized stolen during the Cuban revolution in the late 50's, and some have had family members imprisoned or tortured. These people will automatically vote against anyone who displays any sympathy with Cuba. I have heard that if this bloc had voted against Clinton in Clinton's first run for president, then he would have lost Florida. And if Clinton had lost the electoral votes of Florida, then he would have lost the election. Because most people in the US don't care about Cuba (or even know much about it), it is easier for the politicians to appease this bloc and avoid making them angry.

  Class warfare.
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  nvrgnbk

  The exiled Cubans in Florida exert extreme pressure on the U.S. government.

  This community was very helpful to both GWB and his brother, Jeb.

  You can draw your own conclusions.